Chương 20: The Troll Under the Bridge

Entry XI – Of the Siege Cities and the Birth of Undeath We fell. In droves, in screams, in silence. Those that survived did so by wall and wand alone. Cities became fortresses. The great halls of learning turned to citadels. But even the arcane faltered before such endless siege. The miasma of death thickened, turning once-sacred groves to foul swamps. Where magical beasts fell, they rose anew - twisted by the death magic, their native power now a curse.

I beheld the skies blacken as the dracolich, Maltherium Mortivex, was birthed in agony above the ruin of Bryngarth. A wyrm of old, turned unliving engine of death. The very world cried out beneath his wings. Chronicles of the Sundering: A Personal Record by Mine Own Hand by Archmage Elowen Thorne, Keeper of the Black Flame, Scribe of the Meridian Vaults"First years over here!" A tall professor carrying a banner with a big '1' on it called out.

He was on the heavier end, but more like 'body builder bulking up' than 'fat', and had a large flask at his hip.

"First years here!" The call was being echoed by a second professor with a big banner saying 'Transfers' on it. The other students of Camelot were already milling around the banners labeled from 2 to 8. There was a sharp tick in 'unusual' features on students starting from the 5. Students with scars and runic tattoos all over their body. Students with wings growing out of their back. Students with odd colored skin, bouncing lights floating around their head, or playful animals dancing around their feet.

One had replaced her arm with a snake, and that wasn't even the oddest student Felix saw. Blessedly, a large number of them also looked completely normal. Felix wouldn't be expected to ritually alter himself. A great Argo had spat the rest of the students out onto granite stones, and they'd been able to organize themselves in the time needed for the first years to take their journey up. The entrance to Camelot was hurting Felix's head. The walls of the castle were gleaming white, banners, towers, and all.

Quite normal. It was the moat and the ground that was starting to give Felix a headache. Camelot was perched on the edge of a tall cliff, against the edge of the ocean. It was also in the middle of Avalon, surrounded by the fields of Camlann on all sides, along with the forest. While being on a tall cliff, it was also at sea level, and the moat around the castle had rippling waves as the ocean crashed against the castle's cliffs. There was also no drawbridge, but Felix was happy to chalk that one up to 'magic'.

High and low, centered and on the edge, the ocean was both half a mile down and at the castle level. Felix could feel himself getting sick as he looked at the odd twist in nature that made it all possible. Alexandria waved a hand in front of him.

"Magic to Felix, you there?" She hoarsely whispered. Felix snapped out of it.

"Yeah, sorry, the whole thing just… it's giving me a headache." He said.

"I don't want to say first rule of magic, but in the top, oh twenty or so. If looking at something is making your head hurt, stop doing it." Vivian blithely said, like it was nothing.

"Same with hearing, listening, tasting, the whole thing. It's a warning." Felix nodded and hauled his bags out, then turned to Vivian. Alexandria had already gotten her stuff out in the meantime, but the blonde had brought multiple trunks with her.

"Need a hand?" He asked.

"How did you get that all on board in the first place?" Alexandria asked, not even waiting to see if Vivian needed help before stepping in.

"I think we're good Felix, thanks!" Vivian said.

"And I took two trips, okay? Not all of us can afford expanded trunks." The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. Felix lined up with the other first years, and got a little lost in the crowd. At the same time, he felt like he could never get truly lost in the crowd. Everyone else was wearing robes and a wide-brimmed pointed hat. Him and Hazel were the only two still wearing normal clothing. Uhhh… would that be noonie clothing?

The bellowing professor quieted down, then unsheathed a sword. The nearby students stumbled back, and he snorted at them.

"Never seen a secondary conduit before?" He asked them. The man then twisted and swung the blade in a complex pattern, and magic flared before turning into a number. He nodded at what he saw.

"I'm Professor Cedric Cold." He said.

"In a moment, you will follow me into Camelot College of Casting and Charmwork. Let me be the first to welcome you all here! Before we get properly started, anyone have pressing issues?" One of the girls, Valerie De Lys, stuck her hand up. A second girl, Emily Brown, was leaning against her and sweating heavily.

"Pardon me professor, but my friend needs either the hospital wing or a bed." Valerie said. Professor Cold eyed the girl, then beckoned the two of them over. Another swish of his sword brought up a privacy ward, and they had an animated conversation between the three of them.

"Thorne!" He called out.

"Leona Thorne!" A girl pushed her way over from the 5th year section. She had a black and gold uniform, different from the other school uniforms, raven-colored hair down to her waist, and her eyes were crystal blue, like a shard of ice had gotten stuck in them.

"Professor." Her words were sharp and clipped, but respectful.

"Got a kid here that needs to get to the hospital wing. Can you make it happen?" She nodded.

"Right then. Let's go." Silently, without a motion, Valerie and Emily's luggage started to float behind Leona. She strode off towards the castle, and Felix watched closely as she approached the moat. Without missing a beat, she started to walk on air. She flipped her hair over her ear as she turned around, not missing a step.

"Invisible bridge, come on." She called out to the two girls. They followed after Leona. Then a troll climbed out from under the bridge and jumped onto it. He was covered head to toe in painted armor, except for his tusks, which dripped an ugly fluid. He had a shield in one hand, and a metal club larger than Felix's body on the other.

"Who-" He started to call out.

"Medical emergency." Leona said without breaking stride. She gestured, and the troll knight went flying off the bridge, into the moat. There was a sudden thrashing as things in the water started to fight with the troll. The sick girl's friend stared for a moment.

"No time to waste." Leona said. The three of them vanished into the castle, and a waterlogged troll hauled himself out of the moat. One last tentacle snaked out of the water, trying to wrap around his ankle, but a swift blow of the club put an end to that. The knight shook out one foot filled with water, then a second one, before glaring at Leona's back and muttering murderously. He then struck a pose in the middle of the invisible bridge, and roared at the assembled students.

"Who dares approach Syr Gorram!" He roared.

"This is my bridge, and I demand a toll!" The 8th years approached the bridge en masse.

"We are students! Seekers of knowledge, come to study at Camelot!" They called out in chorus.

"Students? Students!? I see no students here! I've seen jellyfish with more brains and sheep with more power! I've known friendlier sharks and lemmings with better judgment! You lot look like you've got the resilience of a mayfly, but not one of you look like students." He called back. One of the students stepped forward.

"If our knowledge is lacking, we are here to learn! If our power is lacking, we are here to get strong! If our compassion is lacking, we are here to gain empathy! If our judgment is poor, we are here to learn wisdom! If our resilience is found wanting, we are here to become tougher!" He shouted back. The troll shook his head.

"Bah! Fine words, but words are just wind. Still, I suppose it's the first step on how fools start to become less foolish. You may pass, but spend your time here wisely." The metal-clad troll stepped off to the side, and let the 8th years pass. He then stepped back into the middle of the invisible bridge as the 7th years approached. The same call and response went back and forth, until it was the 1st year's turn. Professor Cold gestured them forward, but stayed on the bank of the river himself.

Felix shuffled along with everyone else, luggage still in tow, as Syr Gorram yelled at them.

"Who dares approach Syr Gorram!" He roared.

"This is my bridge, and I demand a toll!"

"We are students! Seekers of knowledge, come to study at Camelot!" The first years called out in weak chorus. The response from the first years wasn't nearly as strong as everyone else, but the troll went along to the next line.

"Students? Students!? I see no students here! I've seen jellyfish with more brains and sheep with more power! I've known friendlier sharks and lemmings with better judgment! You lot look like you've got the resilience of a mayfly, but not one of you look like students." He called back. Erik smoothly stepped forward. Quite a few of the other boys were glaring at his back, but none of them had stepped up nearly so quickly. Alexandria was contemplating murder.

Seeing the troll from so close, Felix could understand why - and had a greater appreciation for his friend's courage.

"If our knowledge is lacking, we are here to learn! If our power is lacking, we are here to get strong! If our compassion is lacking, we are here to gain empathy! If our judgment is poor, we are here to learn wisdom! If our resilience is found wanting, we are here to become tougher!" Erik shouted back, having already memorized the speech. The troll nodded at him.

"Then welcome, little tadpoles, to Camelot!" The troll stepped back, and Felix joined his throngs of fellow students past the gate of Camelot.